"There's nothing like experiencing America's most powerful, streamlined steam locomotive thundering across her old stomping grounds to add to the excitement and celebration of our country's most patriotic day..."

During the Fourth of July weekend, Norfolk Southern ran a series of excursions out of Roanoke, Virginia as part of their 21st Century Steam Program. The motive power for these trips was none other than Norfolk and Western class J #611; fresh from her year-long restoration and operating out of her hometown for the first time since 1994!

In this video, we see the J tackle the Christiansburg grade towards Radford with the afternoon Pelican excursion unassisted.

Special thank you to the Fire Up 611 Campaign, the Virginia Museum of Transportation, Norfolk Southern Corp, and all who've donated both time and resources for making this possible. For more information on continuous support for the Norfolk and Western 611, visit: http://fireup611.org/

Also a big thanks to Christopher Kovacs.

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